The Obama administration today released a five-year plan for conservation efforts to protect the Great Lakes, outlining steps to remove toxic sediments and invasive plants and otherwise target threats to the ecosystem, the Associated Press reported.

Since 2009, Congress has appropriated $1.6 billion for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which has helped to rebuild wetlands and protect the eight-state region from invasive species. The plan is that the funding will be spent through 2015, according to EPA Great Lakes Regional Director Susan Hedman.

"Supporting sound conservation practices such as planting cover crops, rotating crops, installing filter strips and restoring wetlands not only helps keep our water clean, it can help create jobs," U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement quoted by the Wall Street Journal.

The revamped conservation plan also outlines steps to mitigate climate change, including selecting wetland plants and trees that are more conducive to warmer temperatures and restoring watersheds to prevent erosion and runoff from heavy storms.  

In 1987, the U.S. and Canada identified 47 sites that were designated as "most polluted" areas, but just one site had been remedied by 2010, the Journal reported. One other highly polluted site has been cleaned up in the last four years, while the plan designates another 15 to be restored by 2020.

Toledo, Ohio, told residents not to use the water for two days over the summer due to elevated toxin levels credited to a Lake Erie algal bloom. Nitrogen and phosphorus in the lake, septic systems and livestock pens are also all believed to contribute to toxins in the water.

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